...And the winner is Mr Bachchan

The controversy around the 2005 National Film Awards seems to have blown over. And, superstar Amitabh Bachchan will finally get the 53rd National Film Award for best actor for his performance in Black from President Pratibha Patil later this year.

Black will also get the award for best feature film in Hindi. The decision to announce the awards was taken after a year of controversy had stalled the event. <b1>

The row was sparked when filmmaker Anand Patwardhan’s documentary was not considered by the jury on the ground that the film was not cleared by the Censor Board.

In 2006, Patwardhan moved the Mumbai High Court, which granted a stay on the announcement of the awards. Early this year, the stay was set aside by the Supreme Court, which said the government had the right to fix the eligibility criteria.

But soon after, jury member Shamli Dev contested the superstar’s nomination saying there was pressure on the jury to give him the award. Other jury members have however refuted the charge.

Last week, the Delhi High Court rejected her petition against Bachchan’s nomination and vacated its earlier stay on the announcement.

Though Dev was undeterred and said she would move the Supreme Court, the Big B, for now, is set to claim his third national award, after Agneepath and his debut film Saat Hindustani.